Leander, Texas

Leander (/liˈændər/ lee-AN-dər) is a city in Williamson and Travis Counties, Texas, United States. Its population was 59,202 at the 2020 census and 87,511 at the 2024 census estimate. A suburb just north of Austin, and part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area, it was the fastest-growing city in the United States between 2018 and 2019.

Leander was established in 1882 on land sold by the Austin and Northwestern Railroad Co. to prospective citizens. The town was named in honor of Leander "Catfish" Brown, one of the railroad officials responsible for the completion of the line.

Tumlinson Fort, the first Anglo-American settlement in Williamson County, was established in early January 1836 at the headwaters of Brushy Creek, four miles south of present-day Leander. With the purpose of protecting settlers from attacks by the Comanche, a company of Texas Rangers occupied the post until late February, when the invasion of Santa Anna made abandoning the post necessary, soon after which it was burned by the Comanche.

The Webster Massacre occurred near present-day Leander in August 1839, when a party of about 13 settlers traveling westward through the area was attacked by a band of Comanche, and all but three were killed.

Near Leander, the Leanderthal Lady, a skeleton dating back 10,000 to 13,000 years, was discovered; the site was one of the earliest intact burials found in the United States.

In August and September 2011, destructive wildfires swept through two central Leander neighborhoods, burning a total of 330 acres (130 ha) and destroying 26 homes.

Leander is located at the intersection of Ranch to Market Road 2243 and U.S. Route 183, about 22 miles northwest of downtown Austin. Georgetown lies five miles to the east on Route 2243.

According to the City of Leander, the city has a total area of 34.08 square miles (88.3 km²), all land.